Does the use of anonymous evidence weaken the principle of open justice? Seamus Burns reports
The unanimous decision of the House of Lords, in R v Davis [2008] All ER (D) 222 (Jun), [2008] UKHL 36 signals the extreme reluctance of the law lords to depart from long-established principles enshrined in the common law that the defend ant in a criminal trial ought to be confronted by his accusers so that he might effectively cross-examine and challenge their evidence, and will not be disregarded on the pretext of expedient arguments from the state about the necessity of using anonymous witnesses.
The defendant and appellant, Ian Davis, was convicted on 25 April 2004 at the Central Criminal Court of the murder of two men (allegedly he was the gunman who had fired a shot killing both victims, which Davis vigorously denied) at an all-night New Year's Eve party in a flat in Hackney. This conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal Criminal Division on 19 May 2006, [2006] EWCA Crim 1155, [2006] 1 WLR 3130. Three witnesses (the only witnesses in the case
